Sawmill set-works.



" No. 762,170. PATENTED JUNE 7, 1904.

E. w. HOPPER.

SAWMILL SET WORKS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 28, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

2 sH3BTssnnnT 1.

$4Weaom I 5 No. 762,170. PATBNTED JUNE 7, 1904 B. W. HOPPER.

SAWMILL SET WORKS.

. APPLICATION FILED APR. 2a, 1903. no MODEL. 2 sums-sum z.

a Q S K'n'I/IIIIIIA Ill? Hi Elm!!! Patented June '7, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

l/V. HOPPER, OF WELLS, MICHIGAN.

I SAWMILL SET-WORKS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No, 762,170, dated June '7, 1904.

Application filed April 28, 1903. Serial No. 154,634. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDGAR W. HOPPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wells, in the county of Delta and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Sawmill SetlVorks, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in sawmill set-works,

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of sawmill set-works and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient construction designed to take the place of the ratchet mechanism usually employed for advancing the knees and the spring often employed for receding the same and to enable the knees to be gradually advanced by steam or other fluid under pressure and to be quickly receded or moved backward after a log has been sawed into lumber.

A further object of the invention is to enable the movement of the actuating mechanism to be accurately controlled and to locate the mechanism, with the exception of the controlling means, below the platform of the sawmill-carriage, and thereby increase the room or space on the same.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size, and minordetails of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a sawmill-carriage provided with set-works constructed in accordance with this invention, the floor of the carriage being partly broken away to illustrate the arrangement of the set-works. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating the construction of the means for controlling the forward or outward movement of the knees.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a sawmill-carriage of the ordinary construction provided with head-blocks 2 of the usual construction, forming guides for knees 3, which are provided with rackbars 4:, arranged to mesh with gears 5 of a set-shaft 6. The set-shaft 6, which is journaled in suitable bearings of the sawmill carriage-frame, is rotated by the means hereinafter described to advance and recede the knees. The longitudinal set'shaft 6 is also provided with a gear 7, which meshes with a gear-wheel 8 of a shaft 9. The shaft 9, which is disposed longitudinally of the saw-carriage, is jonrnaled in suitable bearings and is provided with a twisted portion 10, forming a screw, which extends into a hollow piston-rod 11.- The hollow piston-rod, which is disposed longitudinally of the sawmill-carriage, is provided with screw-threads 12 for engaging the threads or twists of the shaft 9, whereby when the piston-rod is reciprocated the screw will be rotated. The interiorlyarranged spiral groove or thread 12 of the hollow piston-rod is arranged at the outer end thereof and may be in the form of a nut, or it may be constructed in any other desired manner. The piston-rod 11 is connected with a piston-head 13, arranged within a cylinder 14:, which is designed to be of any ordinary construction and which in practice will be provided with a suitable slide or other valr e for controlling the admission of steam, air, or other fluid under pressure to the cylinder for actuating the piston. In advancing the knee for cutting a log into lumber a constant pressure is maintained on one side of the piston-head, and the movement of the piston is controlled by the means hereinafter described, whereby the piston is permitted to advance gradually under a constant pressure. After a log has been sawed into lumber pressure is applied to the opposite side of the piston-head to recede the knees.

The cylinder is arranged at one end of a longitudinal guide composed of opposite side bars provided with parallel horizontal flanges 15, projecting from the inner opposite faces of the side bars and receiving a slidable crosshead 16. The cross-head 16 is provided at its ends with grooves or recesses 17 to receive the flanges 15, and it is connected with a longitudinal rack-bar 18, which meshes with a gear 19 of a transverse shaft 20. The forward movement or rotation of the transverse shaft is controlled by worm-gearing, and as the shaft is rotated the rack-bar and the hollow piston, which is connected with the crosshead, are permitted to advance. The crosshead is provided with an opening to receive the hollow piston, suitable fastening means 21 being arranged at the opposite faces of the cross-head, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The shaft 20 is provided at one end with a vertical gear 22, which meshes with a vertical worm 23 of an upright shaft 24, and the latter is adapted to be rotated to cause the worm to gradually advance the gear 22. The upright shaft, which is journaled in suitable bearings of the carriage-frame, extends above the floor or platform and is provided above the same with a ratchet-wheel 25 and receives a controlling wheel 26. The controllingwheel 26 has an enlarged hub portion 27, which is provided with a recess to receive the ratchet-wheel 25 and which carries a pawl 28 for engaging the ratchet-wheel. The ratchet mechanism at the top of the upright shaft permits the controlling-wheel to be vibrated .or oscillated for feeding a log to the saw. The backward movement of the controllingwheel does not affect the rotation of the upright shaft, the pawl 28 being permitted to slip over the ratchet-teeth; but the forward movement of the controlling-wheel carries the pawl into engagement with the ratchet-teeth and effects an operation of the gearing.

The controlling-wheel is provided with a projecting arm 29, arranged to move over a curved dimension-rack, preferably consisting of an open disk or ring mounted on the support for the upright shaft. The dimensionraek is provided with a suitable scale, preferably consisting of perforations 30. adapted to receive pins 31 and 32. The pins may be placed in any of the perforations for controlling the feed of the knees, and the controlling-wheel is adapted to be vibrated to oscil late its arm between the pins. By this construction a log may be accurately fed or ad- .vanccd to a saw, and lumber of the desired thickness may be readily cut.

In order to enable the knees to be receded without affecting the mechanism for controlling the feed, the transverse shaft is provided with a clutch 33, composed of sections connected, respectively, with the transverse shaft and with the gear 22, which meshes with the worm. The worm is adapted to rotate the transverse shaft forwardly, and the clutch permits the transverse shaft to rotate in the opposite direction without rotating the gear 22. This construction will-permit the knees to be readily moved backward after a log has been sawed into lumber.

It will be seen that the sawmill set-works are simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction, that they are adapted to be readily applied to a sawmill-carriage without necessitating any change in the construction of the head-blocks, the knees, and the set-shaft, and that the mechanism, with the exception of the controlling means, is located beneath the floor of the carriage, thereby increasing the space or room on the carriage. Furthermore, it will be clear that they will enable the knees to be advanced and receded by steam and other fluid under pressure and that they are adapted to take the place of the ratchet mechanism for advancing the knees and the spring-receder often employed for moving the headblocks backward.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage provided with knees, of a cylinder provided with a piston having a threaded piston-rod, a shaft provided with a corresponding thread and engaged by the piston-rod, and gearing for communicating motion from the shaft to the knees, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a piston provided with a threaded piston-rod, a shaft having screw-threads for engaging the piston, one of the parts being hollow and receiving the other, and means for communicating motion from the threaded shaft to the set-shaft, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the class described. the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a hollow piston having interior threads, a screw engaged by the hollow piston, and means for communicating motion from the screw to the set-shaft, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a hollow piston-rod provided with interior threads, a rotary screw extending into the hollow pistonrod, means for communicating motion from the screw to the set-shaft, and worm-gearing connected with the piston-rod for controlling the forward movement thereof, substantially as described.

5 In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a piston with an interiorly-tln'eaded hollow piston-rod, a rotary screw extending into the hollow piston-rod and connected with the set-shaft, a cross-head movable with the hollow pistonrod and provided with a rack, a gear-wheel meshing with the rack, and worm-gearing for IIO controlling the rotation of the said gear-wheel, substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a hollow interiorly-threaded piston-rod, a rotary screw extending into the hollow piston-rod and connected with the set-shaft, a cross-head movable with the piston-rod and guided on the sawmill-carriage, and means connected with the cross-head for controlling the forward movement .of the set-shaft, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a hollow piston-rod provided with threads, a rotary screw extending into the piston-rod and connected with the set-shaft, a cross-head movable with the piston-rod, and worm-gearing for controlling the movement of the crosshead, substantially as described.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a rotary screw connected with the set-shaft, and means movable longitudinally of the screw for engaging and rotating the same, substantially as described.

9. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a rotary screw connected with the set-shaft, a cylinder having a hollow piston interiorly threaded and engaging the screw, a cross-head carried. by the piston and guided on the sawmill-carriage, a transverse shaft, means for communicating motion from the transverse shaft to the cross-head, wormgearlng for operating the transverse shaft,

and a clutch connecting the worm-gearing with the transverse shaft, substantially as described.

10. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a sawmill-carriage having a set-shaft, of a cylinder having a piston, means for communicating motion from the piston to the set-shaft, an upright shaft provided with a worm and having a ratchetwheel, a controlling-wheel mounted on the upright shaft and provided with means for engaging the ratchet-wheel, means for communicating motion from the worm to the piston-rod, and a scale arranged contiguous to the controlling wheel, substantially as de' scribed.

11. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a cylinder provided with a piston having threads, a shaft provided with corresponding threads engaged by those of 'the piston, whereby when the piston is reciprocated the shaft will be rotated, and a setshaft connected and rotated by the said shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDGAR WV. HOPPER.

Witnesses:

C. WV. MoLIN, O. (J. CURTIs. 

